Honoring Charles Darwin, the father of
evolution, Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene
pool--by removing themselves from it.

Elephant Tail
2005 Darwin Award Winner
Confirmed True by Darwin

(28 January 2005, Pendang, Thailand) It's no secret that elephants are big.
Elephants eat hundreds of pounds of food a day just to maintain their
weight. Indian elephants are nine feet tall at the shoulder. They're so
powerful that in Southeast Asia, males are used to haul massive tree trunks
with their three-foot tusks, work performed by heavy equipment in other
countries.

It's also no secret that teasing an animal makes it mad. Teasing a animal
that can carry a tree with its tusks may not be a good idea. Yet that was
the very idea that formed in Prawat's head, when he saw a herd of five
performing elephants chained to trees outside a Buddhist temple.

While the owner waited inside for an entertainment permit, Prawat, a
50-year-old rubber-tapper, offered sugar cane to one of the ever-hungry
elephants... then pulled it away. Then he did it again. And again. And
again.

The game was great fun for Prawat, but the elephant quickly tired of it.
The last time Prawat withdrew the treat, the elephant swung his massive
tusks and gored him through the stomach. Prawat died on the way to the
hospital. The elephant got his treat.

Reader Comments:
"Elephants have feelings, too."
"Chalk one up for the animal lovers."
"Dont' tease the elephants!" -Mom
"Elephant Tail"